


we loved each other in (and out) of time

by inmyfashion



Category: A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Genre: F/M, a story born of love and loss, love throughout time, she was his tutor in college
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-03 22:24:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14006115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmyfashion/pseuds/inmyfashion
Summary: Kate and Alex met in college, but their love story is anything but simple.





	we loved each other in (and out) of time

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this little story of Kate and Alex. I could not get over how much chemistry Gugu and Chris had, so this happened.
> 
> The title is from Maya Angelou's poem [In and Out of Time](https://allpoetry.com/poem/8905901-In-and-Out-of-Time--Maya-Angelou-by-Suus-Angelus)

**2000**

“He's staring again.”

Kate’s hand halted on the page as she looked across the library table at her friend, Annie. She pushed an errant curl from her face and tucked it behind her ear. “What?”

“Alex,” she gestured over Kate’s shoulder as she spoke. “He's staring again.”

Kate grabbed her hand and pushed it down on the table. “Annie, focus on your calc problem.”

“What?” she shrugged, one brown shoulder exposed in her unnecessarily slouched shirt. She flipped her braids over her shoulder and smiled. “He is. He almost always is.”

“It's rude to point at people,” Kate responded. Her cheeks felt hot as she did her utmost not to look behind her. “If he is staring, it's because he's annoyed I did better than him on that calc test last week and needs a tutor.” She turned her attention back to her notes and tried valiantly to drown out her friend’s chatter.

“Yeah, he’d probably love to have you tutor him, but I doubt that's why he’s staring at you. He's super hot in that boy nerd type of way.”

Kate rolled her eyes and shook her head, her attention focused firmly on the pages in front of her.

Annie sighed and completed the problem in front of her before sliding it across the table to Kate. She looked up, smiled, and gathered her textbook and notes in a hurry. “Brian just got here, I'm going to go.”

Kate’s head popped up and she arched a brow at Annie. “Seriously?”

“Listen, hot stuff,” Annie started. “We can't all have super genius boys stare longingly at us across moldy library books.”

“Poetic.”

“Some of us have to settle for dumb, but hot.” Her friend noisily slid her chair away from the table.

“It's not that he's dumb,” Kate muttered. “It's that he's a pig.”

Annie threw up her hands. “And super great in bed.”

“Please leave now.” Kate laughed as she watched her friend quickly make her way across the library to where Brian waited. She turned her attention away once their greeting shifted from G to PG-13.

The sharpness of the librarian’s voice as she admonished them both swirled around the room, but Kate tuned it out and turned her attention back to her physics homework as she waited for other students to stop in for tutoring.

She loved the practical equations of quantum mechanics. She loved to delve into the subatomic particles, the quantization of energy, and the output of corresponding principles.

As she started to work on a second equation to expand her first, she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

“Excuse me, Kate?” he asked in a quiet voice.

She paused the movement of her pencil and slowly turned to look over her shoulder. She felt blood rush to her face and sting in her cheeks.

Alex Murry was handsome. Maybe too handsome if Kate wanted to be completely dishonest.

His striking blue eyes crinkled ever so slightly at the corners. He had on a dark shirt that desperately needed to be ironed, and fit his body in a distracting way.

“Hi,” she replied in the same quiet voice. “Can I help you?”

He stuck out his hand and waited for her to shake it before he spoke. “I’m Alex.”

She nodded and did her best to keep in the shudder that threatened to take over her body at the feel of his warm, slightly calloused hand in hers.

“I..Well, I have a question if you don't mind,” Alex began. “Do you mind if I sit?”

“No, of course not.”

As he settled in beside her, the gentle scent of detergent washed over her. She turned away as he reached into his backpack, leaning down and exposing a sliver of skin between his shirt and the top of his jeans.

He straightened and pulled out a spiral notebook that appeared to have every page filled.

“Last week,” he began as he flipped through the notebook. “You wrote down this equation that was just incredible. I've been trying to duplicate it, but something's not quite right, and I was wondering if you'd walk me through it?”

Kate tried not let her disappointment show on her face. Annie might have been right about the staring, but she was wrong about the cause, just as Kate had suspected.

“Of course,” she said. “Are you talking about the—”

“Your Lagrangian model,” he interrupted. The color in his cheeks heightened and he shook his head. “Sorry for interrupting, but I just think it's wonderful and you're incredibly smart.”

Kate tucked her head and muttered a quick thank you before she let her pencil fly across the page. So much of the equation formed by memory until she started to plug in the particulars as she remembered from last week's lecture.

She stopped her pencil and took stock of the equation before she turned back to face Alex, who she found staring intently at her.

“Do you want me to break it down?” she asked in a soft voice.

He nodded and moved the heavy wooden chair closer to her, his arm bumping into hers.

“Please,” he whispered back.

She mirrored him and slid her chair closer to his. She spent the next fifteen minutes going through the details of the equation, stopping to explain as he asked her questions.

“Why are you so interested in this equation?” Kate asked.

“Well,” Alex began. He leaned back in his chair, his hands flat on the table. “I like the possibilities of it.”

“Possibilities?”

“There's so much out there waiting to be discovered. A whole universe to explore but we’ll need a way to get there. We’re confined to our current modes of transportation. So we’ll need to devise another way This equation, I think it's on the path to finding something greater than we’ve ever known.”

His body and voice grew more animated with each word he spoke. His eyes brightened and voice grew louder, drawing the attention of a few students around them.

When Alex realized this, he dipped his head and pulled the notebook closer to them.

He cleared his throat and tapped a long section of the equation. “Right here... there's a hint of something just beyond the boundaries of our universe. But how do we get there, Kate?”

His eyes found hers again, the blue so much darker and intense than when he'd first arrived at her table.

“I don't know,” she whispered.

“Neither do I,” he replied. “But I won't rest until I get there.”

He closed up her notebook and slid it back towards her. “Are you hungry?”

Kate's jaw dropped open before she snapped it shut in a hurry. “Uh...Sure. I mean, are you just asking or are you asking me out?”

“Wow, I guess I'm really bad at this if you're not sure.” His smile unfurled slowly and stayed firmly in place while he watched her.

Kate blinked. “I'm...I didn't...I just thought you wanted help with your homework.”

“You're brilliant, Kate, but I do alright on my own. I really did want to see that equation again and I figured what better way to ask out the woman I've been trying to ask out for a year.”

Kate let out a nervous laugh before she could control the impulse. She shook her head and smiled back at him.

“What are your feelings on pizza?”

  
**2002**

“Are you alright?” Kate asked Alex for the second time that evening.

His eyes grew wide and he nodded sharply before he turned his attention back to the presentation at the planetarium.

“They're talking about dwarf galaxies, and you’ve barely heard a word of it.” Kate tried again. She placed her hand flat against his restless leg to stop the motion.

“I’m good. I'm great.” He picked up her hand and placed a kiss in the middle of her palm. “And I'm excited for this to end so we can see the stars. The sky is so bright tonight.”

She laughed. “Now I know something is wrong. There's almost nothing you love more than arguing about dwarf galaxies.”

“That's not true,” he said. “I love you.” He dipped his head and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Though the argument in favor of the galaxies is infuriating.”

Kate laughed again and drew the attention of a few people around them. “In fact,” Alex began. “Let’s go. I have something I need to show you.”

Alex laced his fingers through Kate’s and the pair set off across the planetarium to the large gazebo beneath the retractable roof they only opened when the weather was nice.

Alex found a perfect spot to be able to gaze up at Ursa Major and Minor. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Do you ever think of how many things in the universe had to happen to bring us right here?”

“Hmm,” Kate began. “I think I'm lucky that you needed help with your math.”

“Hey,” he chuckled. “I know I'm lucky that the one woman who makes my heart race is also the smartest person I know.”

Kate smiled and gripped his arms around her waist tighter. “And don't you forget it.”

“I could never,” he breathed against her neck. “Kate...I have a question to ask you.”

“What's that?”

Kate felt him pull away, and when she turned to find out why, saw Alex descend on to one knee. “Alex.”

“Kate, you're so much more than I think I deserve in this life, but I hope you won't hold that against me.” He cleared his throat and pulled back the lid on the ring box. “Everything about you is incredible and I want to spend the rest of my days, as much time as I'm granted on this planet with you. Will you marry me?”

Some of their fellow planetarium visitors had stopped to look and gasp behind their hands, but Kate couldn't concentrate on anything but Alex. The stars in the sky burned in their constant way even as Kate’s entire world grew so much brighter.

“Yes,” she said with a beaming smile. “Yes, I'll marry you, Alex Murry.”

 

**2004**

“Do you know every myth for every constellation?” Alex asked Kate as they looked up at the glowing night sky from their blanket stretched out on the ground.

“I happen to be very smart,” Kate teased as she tucked her head against Alex’s shoulder.

“I know, that's part of the reason I married you.”

He picked up their entwined fingers and placed a kiss on her knuckles. He brushed his thumb across her engagement ring and wedding band before she settled their linked hands on his chest.

“Mhmm,” Kate said. “You just want me to help you get that Nobel.”

“Nah, I hardly even think about that,” he whispered back. He pointed up to the sky and asked: “What about Cassiopeia?”

“She was an unrivaled beauty.”

“Well, the gods were obviously wrong because they never met you.”

She poked at his side and continued. “In Celtic legend, she's known as Anu, the mother of all gods, and the Goddess of Fertility.”

Kate moved their hands from Alex’s chest to rest low on her belly. “It's kind of fitting.”

Alex’s eyes grew wider as they journeyed back and forth between their clasped hands and Kate’ eyes. “Are you—are we—”

“We’re going to have a baby,” Kate said with a beaming smile.

“Kate,” he breathed out against her lips before he kissed her soundly. He brought his free hand to the back of her neck and drew her closer. His lips coaxed hers apart and teased a whimper from them. His eyes were wet with tears when he pulled back. “A baby, Kate. Our baby.”

She nodded and laughed happily when he pulled her close to him. “I take it you're happy?”

“How could I be anything else?”

 

**2008**

A tiny hand fell hard on Kate’s cheek.

“Ow,” she murmured as she pried one eye open. She was met with the happy brown eyes she’d fallen in love with at first sight. She ran her thumb across the chubby little cheek and smiled. “Oh, my Meg.”

A giggle erupted inches in front of Kate’s face. “Sorry, momma.”

“Come here, you!” Kate said as she pounced and initiated a tickle fight with Meg. “What are you doing in here, baby girl?”

Meg shrugged even as she giggled and squirmed away from her mother’s unrelenting fingers. “Daddy told me I should come in here and wake you up. He's making anniversary breakfast. It's a surprise.”

Kate laughed. “Were you supposed to tell me all of that?”

Meg shook her head. “No, but you asked a question and told me to always tell the truth.”

“That I did, smarty-pants. Come on.” She lifted Meg over her body and set her down on beside the bed before she slid from under the covers. She held out her hand and Meg took it happily. “Let’s go see what kind of mess your dad’s made.”

“When I left,” Meg began. “It was a big, big mess.”

Kate sighed, bent down, and picked up Meg, arranging her on her hip for their short trip to the kitchen. “We love daddy very much, even when he's messy, right?”

Meg nodded, her little face solemn and lips in a tight moue. “Always. He's the best daddy in the whole wide world.”

“Just the world?” Alex’s voice rang out from the kitchen.

Meg wriggled in her mother's arms to be set down. As soon as Kate released her, she took off like a shot and threw herself into her father's open arms.

“In the whole universe, daddy!” Meg exclaimed.

“Well that sounds more accurate,” Alex replied.

Kate stood in the entryway to the kitchen, one shoulder propped against the wall as her two hearts danced around the kitchen.

“Should we ask mommy to dance with us?” Alex stage whispered with a peek at his wife.

Meg nodded enthusiastically and flung her arms wide, nearly hitting her dad in the face. “Dance with us, momma!”

Kate pushed off the wall and walked into her husband's embrace.

“Happy anniversary, my love,” Alex whispered before he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Happy anniversary.”

  
**2013**

“I haven't seen you this nervous since Meg was born.” Kate brushed her thumb across the bit of flour stuck to Alex’s cheek. “She's going to be fine. We’re going to be fine.”

“What if she isn't, Kate?” Alex’s gaze locked steadily with hers. “This is a big thing. What if she doesn't adjust well? Or what if Charles Wallace doesn't adjust well?”

“What if the sky falls down tomorrow?” Kate shrugged. “For a man obsessed with the uncertainties of the universe, I would think what ifs would be an adventure.”

Alex shook his head. “I don't want her to feel like we’re going to forget her or replace her. She's my baby girl.” He turned his attention back to the skillet and messily flipped the overdone pancake.

Kate wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned against his back. “Tell her that. It's not that complicated.”

“She's eight.”

“That hasn't stopped you from teaching her the principles of physics. Plus, she believes you hung the moon.” Kate let go of her waist and moved to stand beside him. She cupped his cheek and sighed when he turned to press a kiss in the center of her palm. “You're just afraid of not being the fun parent anymore.”

Alex leaned down and kissed her softly. “Maybe a little.”

“Mhmm.”

Alex kissed her again before he turned the burner off on the stove and moved the slightly smoking pan to the back griddle. He moved them away from the stove and wrapped his arms around her. “I'm excited for our family to grow, I just hope Meg is, too.”

“She’ll follow your lead, Alex. You're her hero.”

Alex released a long sigh and tucked his face into the crook of Kate’s neck. “Okay.”

“Okay. You know I'm right.”

“You're always right.”

“Good answer, Dr. Murry.”

  
**2014**

“Do you think Daddy will be home for Christmas?”

Kate looked up from her spot beneath the tree and frowned. “What are you doing up, Meg? It's late, sweetheart.”

Meg shrugged and made her way over to her mother. She sat down beside her and rested her head on Kate's arm. “I only asked Santa to bring daddy home for Christmas. I don't want anything else.”

Kate wrapped her arms around her daughter and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I don't want anything else, either,” she whispered into the still night. “Your dad loves you so much. And I know that he's doing his best to come back home.”

Meg shifted into Kate’s arms and let out a wobbly sigh. “I miss him so much, mom.”

“So do I, baby.”

  
**2016**

“Dr. Murry?”

Kate drew her attention away from Meg, who sat slumped in a chair outside of the principal’s office.

“I’m sorry,” she began. “What were you saying, Mr. Jenkins?”

Principal Jenkins leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his face. “A few of Meg’s teachers have come to me about Meg’s engagement in her classes. Her attention wanders and sometimes she's antagonistic to them. Mr. Butler, the math teacher said that she corrected him rudely in class.”

Kate held in a sigh and eyed Principal Jenkins. “Was he incorrect?”

He leaned his elbows against the desk and smirked. “He was, but he says that Meg waffles between inattention and stubbornness.”

“I see.”

Principal Jenkins cleared his throat. “I know this has been a rough couple of years for your family, Dr. Murry. Meg is—was—an exceptional student. Is there anything that the school can do to help?”

“As you've said, Principal Jenkins, we’ve had a hard couple of years. And Meg—all of us—we’re just trying to figure out how to adjust to...just how to adjust. I'll talk to Meg. Thank you for bringing all of this to my attention.”

Kate didn't wait for a reply, stood from her seat, and extended her hand. Principal Jenkins stood and shook her hand, a tight smile gracing his features. “Thank you for coming in, Dr. Murry.”

Kate left his office and held out a hand for Meg when she reached her. She slid her slim hand into her mother's.

“I'm sorry, mom.”

Kate nodded and pulled Meg close. “We’ll talk when we get home, okay?”

“Okay.”

The pair slowly made their way out of the school and into the car for their short ride home.

“By the way,” Kate began. “What did you correct your math teacher on?”

Meg stared out of the window as she spoke. “He messed up the formula for frequency.” She looked over and her mom and shrugged. “Daddy taught me that. There's no way I'd forget it.”

Kate kept her tears in check. She smiled sadly. “Your dad would be proud that you remembered that, but we need to talk about school and how you talk to your teachers, alright?”

Meg didn't respond. Just kept her gaze focused on the passing trees.

 

**2018**

“Am I dreaming?” Kate chuckled even as she tightened her arms around her daughter's back.

Kate was stunned by the happiness she saw on Meg’s face as she pulled away and ensured her mother that she wasn't dreaming.

Kate was grateful for the certainty as soon as Alex rounded the corner. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart struck a heavy rhythm in her chest.

“I'm sorry I'm late,” Alex whispered as he gently touched her face.

Kate had to hold him, had to clutch his face between her hands, had to know he wasn't a figment of her persistent imagination.

She shut her eyes and sighed into the gentle press of his lips against her.

_Alex_. Alex was _home_.

She whispered how as they pressed their foreheads together, as she traced his beard and lips with the tips of her fingers.

A barrage of emotion hit Kate like a bolt of lightning. She didn't want to let him go, didn't want to stop touching him as she asked questions and yelled and cried and processed the fact that this wasn't a dream.

Later that evening, Kate watched as Alex tucked the kids into bed. He was insistent—adamant—about it and Kate...she didn't want to take her eyes off of him.

They walked hand in hand back to their room after settling Charles Wallace for the evening.

Kate fell heavily onto the edge of the bed. She tracked Alex’s tentative steps until he reached the edge of the bed.

He knelt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his face into her stomach as he tightened his grip on her.

“I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry.”

Kate couldn't stop the tears that began to pour from her eyes or the sobs that stole her breath.

“I thought...I didn't know if…” She tried and failed as she struggled to draw in a breath.

“I'm so sorry,” Alex said again. “I tried to come home. I had no idea how long I was gone, but I shouldn't have... My ambition got the best of me, Kate, and I'm begging you to forgive me.”

Kate laced her fingers through his hair to pull him away so she could see him. She smiled at him through her cloud of tears. “I love you, Alex.”

Alex smiled and stretched up and kissed her with every ounce of love and certainty he possessed. “I love you. And I always will. Nothing in the universe could change that.”

_FIN_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I was always yours to have.  
> You were always mine.  
> We have loved each other in and out of time.  
> -Maya Angelou


End file.
